Jul 04, 2019 Song for the Fourth of July, 1862

Hail! all hail the day,
The bright, glorious day,
When the banner of Freedom unfurl’d:
It was purchased with blood,
And the tall standard stood
As a beacon of light for the world.

Song for the Fourth of July, 1862
Eliza Roxey Snow (1804-1887)
Salt Lake City, Utah?, 1862?
PS2885 S22 S6 1862

Eliza Roxey Snow is perhaps the best-known of Joseph Smith’s plural wives, after Emma Smith. She met Smith in 1831 and boarded with his family in Kirtland, Ohio as tutor to his children. In 1840 she moved to Nauvoo with the Smith family and other church members. She was chosen secretary of the Nauvoo Relief Society when it was organized in 1842. That same year she became a plural wife of Joseph Smith.

As a young woman, Eliza’s talent as a poet was recognized. While in her twenties, her poetry was published in local magazines and newspapers, garnering several awards. By the time she joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1835, she was famous for her poems and was known as “Zion’s Poetess.” She left behind nearly five hundred poems, which were then as they are now, sources of comfort and inspiration to many of the LDS faithful. Her most well-known poem today is “”Oh My Father,” which is contained in the current LDS hymnal.